The kayak has long been used as a preferred method of marine transportation for one or two people. It is faster and more maneuverable than either a canoe or a rowboat and is not as restricted in use as a sailboat or a motorboat. However, the kayak has never been widely used as a fishing vessel, despite the fact that it is much quieter than a powerboat needed for trolling.
On its own, the kayak has no readily available storage space for fishing rods or other fishing accessories. Therefore, transporting the necessary equipment for fishing, particularly the poles, is extremely difficult. It is also difficult to troll in a kayak because there is no place to securely rest the rod and, in the event that a fish strikes, there is no place to rest the paddle to tend to the rod. Therefore, the inherent advantages of a kayak have not to date been utilized as a fishing vessel.
There have been attempts in the prior art to increase the storage capability of a kayak. For example reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,720 of Jarschke, issued Apr. 26, 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,928 of Brenaman, issued Sep. 14, 1993. Neither of the devices disclosed in those references, however, serves to improve the use of the kayak as a fishing vessel.
Devices designed to specifically hold fishing rods are often designed for canoes or motorized boats and therefore, do not meet the design criteria of a kayak and cannot be adapted for use on a kayak. In this respect, reference may be had to the following U.S. patent references:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,669 of Schaper, issued Oct. 20, 1953; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,218 of Stires, issued Sep. 16, 1958; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,890,847 of Minton et al., issued Jun. 16, 1959; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,069 of McBurney et al., issued Jul. 7, 1964; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,127 of Doskocil, issued Jun. 13, 1967; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,490 of Miller, issued Jun. 12, 1984; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,039 of O'Neill, issued Feb. 3, 1987; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,169 of Denker, issued Mar. 26, 1996.